


For the Sake of Yesterday

by AshAuditore



Category: Free!
Genre: F/M, Gen, M/M, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-23
Updated: 2014-02-23
Packaged: 2018-01-13 13:44:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1228579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshAuditore/pseuds/AshAuditore
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sets 10 years after the season one. Rin Matsuoka travels back to Japan to take part in Haruka's funeral and reunites with the remaining members of the long gone Iwatobi Swim Club.</p>
            </blockquote>





	For the Sake of Yesterday

**Author's Note:**

> It took me a while to finish this very first chapter because of finals. But I guess I'll have more time now since summer break has started. Comments are appreciated but please keep it civilized. I hope you enjoy this as much as I do, more or less.

Rin Matsuoka sat quietly on the newly wooden chair that his sister bought. It had been seven months since he moved into Gou’s apartment to live with her and her husband, Seijuro Mikoshiba. But Rin wasn’t surprise that they eventually got married. Both of them were destined to be together. Even so, Rin never believed in such things like destiny or fate.  


He was about to close his eyes when he heard Gou’s voice from behind, startling him a little bit. “Jeez, you scared me there” he said, pouting.  


“I’m sorry, brother. But your phone was making noises and I don’t want it to wake Seijuro up” she handed the phone to him. Her face looked worried.  


“If that’s the case, then I’m sorry” Rin grabbed the phone from her hand and quickly tapped the newest message that came through. A smile was on his face. His hand making a signal that she can go back to bed to be with Seijuro. Gou did so and he was alone once more.  


 _“I wonder what the message that came through to me is. Gou never wakes up in the middle of the night and handed me a phone like this before. I guess she already knew the context of it.”_ Rin thought, reading the message with great attention.  


**_“Hello Rin, how’s it going? This is your friend, Makoto. I hope that you, Gou and Seijuro are doing fine in the city of angels. Well, I want to say that we all miss you. Even the Iwatobi Swim Club is no more, but we still miss you._ **

**_But the reason why I sent you this message is to inform something to you. It took me a while to be able to type it. It was really hard for me. It was hard for everyone back here as well._ **

**_Rin…_ **

**_Haru is dead._ **

**_He died a few weeks ago in a car accident. I was there with him, yet, I couldn’t do anything to save him. The doctors and the nurses tried their best, but they couldn’t save him. I don’t blame them, though. Even though my injuries are less serious than Haru’s, but they told me that my body wouldn’t function like it used to._ **

**_So, I invite you to Haru’s funeral back here in Japan. It would be great if you can bring Gou and Seijuro here as well.”_ **  


Rin went silent. He didn’t cry. He didn’t feel heavy in his heart. He felt empty. It was like his heart was carved out and the only that left was empty spaces. He went back to the chair and sat down on it. He put the phone into his pocket. His eyes fixed at the neon light of the city. The soft wind blew against his face.  


 _“I’ll show you a sight that you've never seen before!_ ”  


Those words he used to say to Haru still resonated in his mind. Each time he went to bed, he’d dream of the times he used to spend with those people he held close to his heart. He would always deny that the old days had passed and that all of us had to move on with our lives. But it seemed that he was the one that still stuck with the old days.  


He went back inside the apartment and made himself a cup of coffee. He glanced at the clock nearby; it was 11pm. Rin let out a sigh before he took the first sip of it. He let out a small groan. Lately, Rin had found himself waking up in the middle of the night and making himself a cup of coffee. He didn’t know why. But before he woke up, he would always dream about the past. And those dreams weren’t nightmares either. They were just his memories that kept replaying in his mind.  


 _What’s happening to me lately? Why am I dreaming about the past?_ These are the two questions he always asked himself when he woke up from those dreams. He wanted to know the answers to them.  


 _“Shouldn’t I be mourning about Haru’s death?_ ” he thought while he drank the last bit of the coffee. He switched on the light of the area he was in when he noticed the switch.  


“I don’t want you to mourn for me, Rin.” A voice rang in his ears. It was loud and clear. And he definitely knew that voice. He turned around and saw someone there. A man was standing there, wearing a high school student uniform.  


“Haru, are you what I am thinking you are right now?” A grin appeared on Rin’s face.  


“I’m glad you can figure that out pretty fast.” Haru, in his ghost form, approached Rin slowly. A small cracking sound filled in the room as Haru moved closer to Rin. The sound was almost identical to the sound you’d find when you step over piles of dead leaves and branches in the woods.  


“I’m not gonna ask where you are from. But I wanna ask why you are here.” Rin noticed that his hands were shaking just a little bit. He admitted to himself that he felt scared.  


“I am here because I finally found you. It was hard for me to find the living when I’m in this form.” Haru’s transparent hands came out of the darkness. Rin could see every little detail of Haru’s hands – the pulsating veins, the color of the skin and the broken bones that came out of two of the fingers.  


Rin stepped back. He jerked away upon seeing the bones.  


“Don’t be scared, Rin. It can’t be helped. This is how every spirits looks like.” Haru replied. His face came into the light. A trail of blood strolled down from Haru’s head. His eyes were in a darker blue shade.  


Haru reached for Rin. His hands met with Rin’s. “It’s been a while since I felt warmth like this. This body that I am in is so cold. So lifeless…”  


“Wait, isn’t the room supposed to be colder?” Rin asked. It felt strange having Haru’s hands touching his like this. Rin had been told a few times by his co-workers about their experiences with spirits and he would be the one laughing at their stories.  


“That’s for a more powerful spirit, Rin. I’m just an ordinary one.”  


“Well then, what do you want, actually?” Rin tilted his head a bit. His head was being filled with tons of questions about Haru’s appearance and whatnot. Of all of the people in this whole wide world, isn’t he supposed to be going to Makoto who was his husband?  


“I want to go the funeral with you.” Haru replied. His voice was louder this time around.  


“How did you know?”  


“We, the spirits, have minds that transcend beyond the living. We can see the past, present and future. But only for a short time.”  


“And I take that you found out about your own funeral. Hold on a sec, why would you wanna go to your own funeral anyway?”  


A smiled appeared on Haru’s face. He moved his hands and placed it on Rin’s chest. “It’s a farewell of my own before I reincarnate as someone else in the next life.”  


 _“Okay, this is getting less scary and becoming weirder and weirder.”_ Rin let out a sigh.  


“We also can read minds, which means I know what you’re thinking right now.” Haru’s smile was even wider when he found the spot where Rin’s heart was. “The feeling of a beating heart…I miss it as well.”  


Haru removed his hands from Rin’s chest. He approached him even closer. His full body was now in the light. His body was transparent, just like his hands and his face. “But I would need a physical body to be transportation for me if I want to go there.”  


“Haru, don’t even think about it. Don’t. Just. Don’t.” Rin knew exactly what Haru was implying. He had mixed feelings about this. What would happen if he let Haru did what he just told him? Would his spirit be replaced by Haru’s?  


“It’s not going to be hurt, Rin.”  


“I know, I know. But promise me something, if I agree to do this, don’t mess with my spirit. Okay?”  


“I won’t, Rin. Being a spirit doesn’t change the person that I always am.” Haru chuckled softly.  


 _“I thought this supposed to be scary. Well, I guess everything I’ve heard about ghosts is wrong.”_ Rin grabbed the coffee cup he was drinking coffee from it before. “Okay, I trust you, alright? But let me drink my coffee first. I don’t want to be sleepy while doing this with you.”  


While he made the coffee, he often found himself turning to check on Haru. He was still there, waiting and smiling. Rin smiled back, unknowingly to himself. “Okay, I’m done. Give me a sec, okay?”  


Haru nodded. Rin drank the coffee as quickly as he could. “No need to hurry. I don’t want you to burn your tongue.”  


“It’s my habit, Haru. And I burned my tongues before.”  


Rin finished his drink and let out a sigh. “What do I need to do?”  


“Close your eyes. That’s all you need to do.”  


He did as Haru told. Rin breathed in the air and exhaled it. He could feel Haru’s hands on his face. Such a strange feeling he was feeling. Somehow, it felt comforting. The cracking sound was gone. The whole room filled with silence.  


“Rin, thank you for this…I appreciate it.” Haru whispered into Rin’s ear. Rin nodded as a response. He didn’t know what’s going to happen next. But he trusted Haru for what he was about to do.  


 _“For the team”_ rang in his head. He remembered it very well in his mind. The older days of him competing against Haru and the Iwatobi Swim Club or even the very moment he felt the pain of being lonely. He always wanted to be a part of them. And he did, eventually. Rin was happy about that. He might not be the best person at expressing his true emotions from his face but everything he felt was true and solid. He always loved them. They were his friends, after all.  


“Now, open your eyes, Rin. What do you see?”  


He slowly opened his eyes, looking around the area he was in. “I saw nothing.”  


“Okay, do you have a mirror?”  


“I have one in my bedroom. Why do you need that and where the hell are you right now?”  


“You’ll see when you stand in front of the mirror.”  


“Fine” Rin grunted. He walked towards the bedroom and stood in front of the only mirror he ever had. A small fracture was at the top of it. It was from when he tried to move it to his room and it fell onto the floor. Good for him that it didn't break into pieces.  


“I’m standing in front of it and I see—”  


Rin couldn’t believe what his eyes perceived. There was a reflection of him and Haru, all in the same mirror. “So, you’re inside my body?”  


“Yes, I am. But only in the conscious and the subconscious…and I’ll try not to mess around too much with yours.” Haru chuckled.  


“What happens next?” Rin asked. His face still showed a sign of surprise.  


“You go to bed. And when the morning comes, I’ll wake you up.”  


“This sure is like another level of the voice in my head stuff. Don’t mess with my mind, okay? I don’t want me to end up being like that dude in Fight Club.”  


“Rest assured, Rin. It’s not going to be like that. By the way, it’s very late now.”  


“Yeah, thanks for reminding me.”  


Rin placed himself on the bed and covered his body with a white blanket. “Wake me up when it’s 8am. I need to make reservations for flight tickets.” He murmured, drifting away into his dream.  


“I will, Rin. See you later. Goodnight.” Haru said. His voice sounded more _human_ than he was when he wasn’t in Rin’s body.  


“Night, Haru.” Rin replied softly and dozed off into his sleep. It was sure a weird as hell night for him. He never thought he’d see a ghost. At least it was Haru and not someone else. The silver-colored digital alarm clock positioned right beside him beeped when the time changed every one hour. Its blue neon light lit up Rin’s face a little. The world outside was still alive and well. The city of angels never slept. It might not be as busy as NYC but sure it was always active.  


_“Let’s swim together, Rin.”_  


Rin smiled in his sleep, dreaming of the old days once more. And Haru found himself indulging in Rin’s dream as well. Even in death, Haru could still feel like he was alive. He could feel like he was human again.  


He could feel like he didn’t die and the accident never happened.


End file.
